Chicago + Suburbs soulful documentary + lifestyle photography

Letter to my Photography heroes.

I can’t believe I am writing this. How cheesy of me! .. I mean really!

I guess technically this is more of a tribute and giving credit to where credit is deserved, than a letter. I personally don’t know these women, I have, however followed their work in every social media platform. Stalker-ish? ..maybe :). It was easy to pick my top four. Why top four? I guess its a lucky number for me. I choose photographers that are alive and creating as we speak.

From merely seeing their work on a daily basis, reading their words in blogs, magazines, and social media photo captions, I have been truly inspired. The way they see the world has resonated and moved from within me. They have made me pushed myself. In a very big way they have encouraged me. These women are Liz La Bianca , Valeria Spring, Joy Prouty and Summer Murdock. I have so many other favorites. I could prob make a top 100 list, because I love everyone’s work so much. But these 4, they have been my favorites from the very beginning.

My Photography journey start is not very original,it is the typical ” I became a mom” . That is all I needed really. My passion for photography started way before that though, I have always had a love for the creative mediums, I knew I would dedicate my life to something truly beautiful. Photography became that something.

I remember being very new to Facebook , and trying to find inspiration online always felt so wrong. Or it felt like everything had already been said. Anyway I digress, I came across this beautiful black and white image. ( I wish I still had the links to show you all) Stopped me in my tracks. It was truly a work of ART! it was a little girl, swimming. In perfect light, composition, etc… everything that I didn’t know at that time. It was Liz La biancas’ work being shared. I of course, immediately began following Liz’ journey . I was obsessed with her work. Her willingness to share her knowledge was amazing to me. Here was an amazing photographer, in my eyes giving her secrets away.I was baffled as to why someone would do that. Surely she knew people could copy her, and steal her work. I didn’t realize at that time how hard it would be to do that, not that I tried to copy but my love for light had grown so much that I would try similar shots, and of course they would never look like hers, they never will. She shared to much! and still does. That is one of the things that I love about Liz. She truly is such a giving Artist! She has no idea how much I learned from her! She filled my daily feed with incredibly shots and words full of experience. I cannot thank her enough for that.

Valeria’s work was another Artist who I happened to come across on fb. I immediately adored her style. It had such a nostalgic edge, that I kept on constantly going back too. The way she captures her life and daughters, it was just a breath of fresh air. The way she captures families, so effortless. I knew I would try to incorporate some of that into my work, she has the ability to get and transform a single shot into pure gold. I don’t know her process at all, obviously. She might read this and think I’m bananas, because as we all it is not all that simple. But her work just makes me believe that it is. The makes tiny mundane moments worth remembering. She will forever be one of my favorites.

So as I continued immersing myself into more learning communities I heard about this amazing photographer named Joy Prouty. I had the chance to watch a free broadcast from an event she had done for Clickinmoms. The way she described her family and parenting, was enough for me to become a fan. Of course her work is just stunning, always a source of inspiration for me if I feel stuck, Her use of light and locations it outstanding, she fills me with wanderlust . Anyway, I fell in love with the descriptions of her life first. The imperfections of her life she shared with us, and the struggles of motherhood and doing it as we also are trying to have a business. She is without a doubt, a very beautiful soul. She once took a family road trip across the country with her four tiny humans and husband. If hat doesn’t say brave, I’m not sure what does. She is very surprising to me, always willing to roll with the punches. For that and many reasons I adore her work and is one of my favorites.

Ok last but not least, The always spectacular Summer Murdock. Gosh this lady! Every.single. image. of hers makes me swoon! She is hard to miss. I am always entranced in her imagery. She always inspires me to see things from a new perspective.The infinite motion of her art makes me feel like I am there seeing it in person. Her use of color and emotion is my favorite. If I could be a photographer for a day, It would probably be Summer.

I hope to one day meet my heroes, or get a chance to learn from them. Nothing would be more of a dream come true than to get to be in their presence, see their back of the camera, get to see them work their magic! To be able to thank them for their contributions to this photography community would be momentous. Also they are on my bucket list, I will have a session with them sometime in the near future. I promise!

For now I will keep on learning through them, being inspired by them and continuing on my photography journey by also finding my voice.

ABOUT ME

HEY THERE!
I'm Adri. I am a mama to two wild children, We reside in the west suburbs of Chicago. There are only significant images of my childhood, not any of me enjoying life being as I was a care free, crazy child. My children will have plenty of those. Let me help you capture that for your family. Things I believe are Love is love, Black Lives Matter, and everyone has a seat at my table. There is no such thing as an illegal human being.

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